Starting ignition for internal-combustion engines.



G. HONOLD & M. BALL. STARTING IGNITION FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES. APPLICATION FILED 00T.20, 1910.

1,048, 1 62. Patented Dec. 24, 1912.

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W Z; ap/4 1R 1 1 r G. HO NOLD & M. RALL. STARTING IGNITION FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES. APPLIOATION FILED 00T.20, 1910.

1,048, 62, I Patented Dec 24, 1912.

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eo'r'rnon Borrow, or s'ro'rmnnr, GERMANY, AND max BALL, or rams, Assmnoas r0 rnnrmm or nonnar BOSCH, orsrorreanr, cnaum:-

STARTING IGNITION FOB INTERNAL-COMBUSTION TEITG'IIIN'E S.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, Go'rrLoB HONOLD, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at Nos. 11-13 Hoppenlaustrasse, Stuttgart, Germany, and MAX BALL, a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residing at No. 17 Rue Theophile- Gautier, Paris, France, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in' Starting Ignition for Internal-Combustion Engines; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact'descri tion of the invention, such as will enable ot ers skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to the electric i ition in combustion engines in which an e eetric current'derived from a direct current source, such as a battery or'a generator, is employed for starting, whereas an alternatmg current machine is emplo 'ed for ignition durin' the subsequent period of normal running. ith both kinds of i ition, the arrangement is such that the high tension current is generated in the armature winding of the alternating current machine without a special transformer coil.

It has been ascertained that when a high tension current is emplo ed for the ignition in combustion engines, t e best operation is realized where the mechanically controlled interrupter and the condenser upon thearmature of the alternating current machine are arranged in direct connection with the tions shoul primary winding; that is, where the primary current has no contact resistances to overcome. Therefore, electrical/circuits including 'both rotating and stationary arts, and the. sliding contacts necessitat thereby,

should be avoided and only soldered, screw or similarl short and permanent connecd be employed. Furthermore, for

facilitating the starting of combustion engines, it has been shown to be advantageous to employ a direct current source in ad"- dition to the alternating current machine, which atslow speed has too low an operating efiiciency, so thatboth atstarting-and durin running reliable ignition is assured.

he most usual ignition systems J of this sort employ transformer coils for battery ignition, changing the battery current into high tension current. An arrangement of this sort is, however, rather troublesome and Application'flled October 20, 1910. ,Serial No. 588,187.

where it is desirable to economize inweight as much as possible.

furthermore, is not well adapted for Patented Dec. 24, 119112;v

Methods are already known for the ignition of combustion engines which recognize the above mentioned difiiculties and seek to avoid them by employing the armature winding of the alternating current machine instead of an ignition coil, 'so that a'special' ignition coil is dispensed with. In installations of this kind, however, the source of direet current supply and the commutator the currents, are put which serves to rectify in series with the primary winding on the armature of the alternating current ma chlne and the mechanically controlled interrupter; In such arrangements there is the accompanying disadvantage that slidin contacts are presentin the primary circuit of the alternating current machine, which introduce, a great resistance to the flowof current and reduce the eificacy of the ignition. In contrast to. these'prior methods of ignition, the source of direct current supply employed for starting the combustioneng ne in accordance with the present invention, together with the commutator, are ut in parallel with the primary circuit o).

the alter-' nating current machine, whereby-the two sources are opposed to one another. 1When a battery is employed as a source of direct current supply inthis arrangement, short circuitin .of the battery is prevented when the 'mec anically actuated interrupter is closed, and the efliciency of ,the attery thereby raised, by interposing a self-induction coil in the battery circuit. By this expedient, no sliding contacts are included in the primary circuit of the alternating current machlne in normal operation. The

commutator. brushes are used only at start-' 'ing, to conduct the direct current as long as the source of direct current is in circuit.

The accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, show, in several modifications, the necessary circuits for carrying out the new method of ignition.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the arrangement employed. for a one-cylinder combustion engine. Fig. 2 is a d1a-' grammatic illustration of the arrangement employed for a four-cylinder combustion em irect current source.

'ne with a starting ush-button arrangedil li parallel with the A condenser e is arranged in parallel with the interrupter contacts," so as to render the interruption as nearly sparkless and as quick as possible. The armature carries the primary winding u and also a secondary winding f in which is produced thehigh tension current for creating the sparks at the points g. The mechanical interrupter is-mounted on the armature shaft which is rotated by the engine.

In parallel with the primary circuit of the ignition machine is arranged a branch circuit containing a direct current source such as a battery. or generator h. In this circuit there is a commutator i with the seg ments m and n which serve to rectify the alternating current so that the cooperation of the direct current and the alternating current becomes possible. A switch 70 serves for closing the battery circuit. In order that a short circuit of the battery it may be prevented upon closure of the mechanically controlled interrupter d and closure of the switch'lc, a self-induction coil Z is interposed in series with the battery. The push-button employed for starting the combustion engine. the modifications shown in Figs. 3 and 4, a condenser e is interposed in par" allel with the push-button 0. In Figs. 2,

' 8 and 4, p is a current distribute'r which, in

the case of multi-cylinder combustion engines, distributes the secondary current to the individual spark plugs.

'In accordance with our Invention, the" mode of operation of the "arrangement shown in Fig. 1 is as follows: If the engine is to be started, the controlling lever is is brought to the point A as shown, whereby the direct current source is connected in circuit. The armature of the alternating current machine is operatively coupled with the enginesothat when the engine is rotated acurrent is generated in the primary winding 4; of the armature of the alternating current machine, which current, when the interrupter is closed, flows by way of the insulated armature winding, and through the interrupter d and the engine body b back to the armature winding. Since the battery circuit is likewise connected at the same time to the interrupter (i, this circuit is also shortcircuited when the interrupter is closed. Then at the instant the interrupter is opened, the current from the direct current source h, reinforced by the current produced by the action of the self-induction coil Z, flows through the closed contact arm 7;, commutator segment m, and the primary winding a of the armature, connected so as to be in opposite direction to the current produced by the rotation of the armature in the magnetic field. Thus if it be assumed I in tension of the current in the armature winding becomes extraordinarily sudden.

powerful induction current in the secondary winding f of the. armature than would be created by the interruption of the previously short-circuited primary windlng alone. After the engine has been started in this manner, the contact arm is is shifted to the position M, so that only the alternating current machine is in circuit. Then the sparking proceeds in the usual manner. If the 'Thus there is produced a considerably more engine is to be brought to restby interrupting the ignition, the lever k is shifted to the position 0, whereby both current circuits are short-circuited through the arm is and the interrupter d is without effect.

In order to use the direct current source for starting those engines which automatically start from rest by ignition alone (see Figs. 2 and 3) the interrupter d mustbe in its open position. The direct current circuit is then closed by bringing the lever 7a to A and' depressing the push-button 0. 'Inthe case of Fig. 2 the following operation thenvresults: Upon closing the push-button 0, the

direct current source is short-circuited, so that no current flows in the armature winding a. quickly interrupted by releasing the pushbutton 0 whereupon the current from the direct current source flows through the armature winding a. The sudden interruption of the short-circuit of the direct current source has the further consequence that a more powerful current is produced by the induction coil Z which then flows. through the armature winding. However, since the induction current from the coilv Z has only a short duration, a. e., has the character of an electrical surge, the current falls to' the strength of the current from the direct cur armature a powerful induction current,"

thereby causing the ignition spark.-

This short-circuit path is then I In the arrangement shown in Fig. 3 a uniform current flows through the armature winding a'when the contact lever is is introduced into circuit and the push-button 0 is closed (normal position). Then uponv opening the push-button contact, the circuit is broken and the current in the armature circuit falls abruptly to zero, whereby there is produced in the secondary coil 7 of the armature, the induction current neces-j sary for ignition of the gas mixture as before. When the combustlon engine has attained a sufficient speed of rotation, the switch-arm 71, just as has been described with reference to the arrangement of Fig. 1, is brou ht into position M; and for sub-- sequent y cuttingofi of the ignition, it is brought to point 0. The arrangement according to Fig. 3,, can also be altered with advantage in the manner disclosed in Fig. 4, in which the push-button o is placed in parallel with the induction coil 1. .In this way the current from the battery does notflow through the induction coil when 0 is de ressed. i

he constructive features for our inven-. tion can be embodied, for instance, in two commutator brushes attached to the me-I chanically controlled interrupter of a high tension ignition machine. One of these brushes is mechanically secured to the insulated part c of the interrupter and the:

other is supported from that member of the interrupter whichis connected to the frame of the alternating current machine. The

current from the direct current source is.

conducted to both of these brushes through two stationary segments, which are separated from one another by insulating material. The arrangement may also be so chosen that, both segments 'of the commutator rotate with the interrupter while the current of the direct current source is conducted to these segments through two carbon brushes.

In order that reliable ignition may be, assured, and, so that, in the case of the employment of a battery as direct current source, the battery may not become shortcircuited when the contacts of the interrupter touch each other, there is inter osed between the battery and one segmentt e induction coil l, which serves primarily as resistance, but can, at the same time, be employed for producing-a sur e as described above. However, when a su ciently strong battery is available, for example, a battery having a terminal voltage of 50 volts, a non-inductive ohmic resistance can be used in place of the self-induction coil 1, which resistance ishigh enough to prevent the flow of too much currentfrom the battery. If, however, a direct current dynamo is employed in place of the battery, the induction coil may be entirely omitted.

'The described methodof ignition maybe serted in the push-button circuit. The pushbutton itself can be arranged either in parallel with the battery or in series with Likewise, condensers can be nterposed in parallel with the push-button circuit. A

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In an ignition system for internal combustion engines, two electrical circuits, a mechanical interrupter common to both of said circuits, an alternating current machine having a. primary winding and a secondary winding, said primary winding being connected in one of,said circuits, and a source of direct current connected in the other of said circuits; substantially as described.

2. In an ignition system for internal combustion engines, two electrical circuits, a mechanical interrupter common to, both of said circuits, an alternating current machine having a primary winding and a secondary Winding, said primary winding being connected in one of said circuits, and a source of direct current and a commutator connected in electrical series in the other of said circuits; substantially as described.

3. In an ignition system for internal com-- bustion engines, two electrical circuits, a mechanicalinterrupter common to both of said circuits, an alternating current machine having a primary windlng and a secondary winding, said primary winding being connected n one of said circuits, and a source of direct current and a self Induction 0011 connected in electrical series. in the other of said circuits; substantially asdescribed 4. .In an ignition systemfor internalcombustion engines, two electrical circ'uits,a mechanlcal interrupter common to both of said circuits, an alternating current-machine havs -1ng a primary 7 windlng and a secondary winding, said primary winding being connected'in one of said circuits, and a source of direct current, a commutator and an 1nduction coil in electrical series in the other v.of said "circuits; substantially as described.

5. In an ignition system for internal combustion engines, two electrical circuits, a mechanical interrupter common to both of said.

circuits, an alternat-in current machine having a primary W111 ing and a secondary nected in'one of said circuits, a source of direct current, a commutator and a self induction coil' in electrical series in the'other of said circuits, and a switch in said last named clrcuit adapted to suddenly interrupt the current from the direct current source; 3

substantially as described.

6. In an ignition system for internal combustion engines, two electrical circuits, a mechanical interrupter comrnon to both of said circuits, an alternating current machine having a primary. winding and a secondarywinding, and a source of'direct current in electrical series with a commutator, the said primarywinding being so connected inone of said electrical circuits that its current is opposed to the current from'the direct current source in the other of said circuits; substantially as described.

7 Mechanism for initiating ignition in combustion engines comprising the,combination with an alternating current ignition machine having a primary and a secondary circuit, a spark plug in the secondary circuit and a mechanical interrupter in the primary circuit, of a direct current source connected in parallel with the primary circuit of theignition machine through the mechanical interrupter, and mechanism for suddenly varying the current flowing from a the direct current source, whereby when the machine is at rest with the interrupter open the current from the direct current source may be directed through and suddenly varied in the primary circuit of the alternating current machine to generate a sparking'po-' direct current in'such manner that vthe rectified current from the machine is opposedf;

to the current from the direct current source field of the machine by the direct current source when the electrical path through the mechanical interrupter is open; substantially as described.

to thereby prevent demagnetization of the In testimony whereof we aflix our signav tures, in presence of two witnesses,

GOTTLOB HONOLD.

MAX BALL.

Witnesses as to Gottlob Honold:

MAX ANscHU'rz,

REINHoLn ELWORT. Witnesses as to Max Rail:

EUGfiNE SERRE,

LEON PE'rrr. 

